Winner of Applied Arts' Young Blood Award. Also, we think we're cool.

Farrell Tremblay – Young Promoters of Ontario

By Jaii Bhamra

“The hardest thing about getting started is moving forward when things don’t go right,” Farrell Tremblay said – a young promoter within the Ontario music scene.

“I’ve seen a lot of promoters walk onto the scene with big ambitions, throw one show, and then become so discouraged they never throw a show again. That’s life as a promoter. You win some, you lose some, and when things go south, you have to be able to stand up, dust yourself off and get right back in the game.

“If you can’t roll with the punches, promoting will eat you alive,” Tremblay said.

Tremblay is a magnificent man. He’s truly one of a kind. Goal driven, determined and full of ambition. That just touches the surface of what he is. Who exactly is this Mr. Tremblay? He’s a Recording Arts Management graduate from Harris Institute currently working for Pear Tree Productions, a company that he’s founded and promotes bands through.

Promoting concerts for the past six years, he finds several bonuses come with the job.

“First of all, I have met a lot of cool and interesting people. From a professional standpoint, I’ve developed great interpersonal and networking skills that look great on my resume and from a purely selfish point of view.”

“I haven’t had to buy t-shirts in years because of the very generous bands who have stocked my closet with merchandise.”

On the promotion side with Pear Tree Productions, he’s had his ups and downs like living in an area, with age appropriate venues.

Tremblay had to search high and low to find the right venues he’s used over the last several years.

On the upside, his biggest success is the Low Key Festival. Last August he helped organize the entire festival which $2000 for Erinoak Kids, a special needs children treatment centre.

That may not seem like an incredible amount of money, but considering the first festival lost money, it’s a great sign of interest in this area. Farrell credits the hard work of his partners at Pear Tree and Low Key Fest – Anthony Hajson and William.

Farrell has worked with some big artists including The Trews, Classified, USS, ill Scarlett and Gordie Johnson in his current American project Grady. There are several bands he still wants to work with but isn’t sure how far he wants to take this career. We’ll just have to wait and find out what he brings out next.

Tremblay’s current goals include going back to school.“I’d like a degree and have been taking the necessary steps to ensure that I am a competitive applicant.

He’s also focused on promoting the upcoming Cancer Bats show, a all ages show on Saturday Nov. 27 at Millcreek Bar in Mississauga. “It’s the biggest event I have coming up and I hope it’s a great success.”